It was a cracking weekend for the Hill, as we recorded 3 wins from 4 games, with only the 3rd NEPL team going down to defeat.
The 1st Team qualified for the semi finals of the Banks Salver on Saturday with a 28 run victory at home to a spirited Eppleton side. After being put in to bat, the Hill recovered from the shock of losing James Schofield to the first ball of the game to end on 202 all out in the final over. This was built around a fantastic effort of 102 from Kyle Coetzer from 102 balls with 14 4s and 3 6s, and the fact that the next highest score after extras was Luke Doneathy's 20 shows what a special innings it was. After Kyle departed, the innings subsided somewhat from 181 for 4, but 202 was still a decent total. After a quick breather, Kyle picked up the ball and took 3 early Eppleton wickets to leave our visitors 48 for 5, but despite a lower order recovery, they were bowled out for 174 with Kyle ending up with 4 for 28 to complete a decent day, while Callum Harding nipped in with 3 for 23. The Hill will make the trip to Ropery Lane to take on an unbeaten Chester le Street side in the semi final on Saturday in what should be a great game.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4515287
The 2nd team had an excellent 7 wicket win at Washington. We bowled out the home side for 79 runs, wickets were shared, with 3 each for Joe Kilpatrick and Harry Reeves, 2 for William Archbold and 1 each for Joe Torre and Pete Jones. We never looked in trouble in our reply, eventually knocking off their total for loss of 4 wickets, Joe Anderson once again top scorer with 39. We will now entertain Chester le Street at home in the Semi final.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4514588
The West Tyne 3rd team had a much needed win on Sunday, as we put out a strong line in a rare game at the Hill against Humsaugh. Winning the toss (for once) the hill batted first and posted 154/7 in 35 overs. Notable contributions from Davey Lads 40. Cyril Chambers 30 and Zain Ullah 22. In reply Humsaugh were bowled out for 117 in 34th over with wickets for Haxon 3/13 Archie 2/30 and wickets for Ladd, Khan,Jones, Ullah and Pounder.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4307272
The NEPL 3rd team ended their Banks Cup campaign with a comprehensive defeat at Jesmond against Newcastle. Put into bat in the worst of the conditions, the Hill were bowled out for 125 in 30 overs in what was a disappointing score in spite of the conditions. Jim Robinson top scored with 23 not out before running out of partners. Despite 2 wickets for Harry Reeves, Newcastle completed a comfortable 8 wicket victory with 10 overs to spare to qualify as group winners.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4443350
